Sri Lankan evacuation begins 

Sri Lanka evacuated its tsunami-battered coastline late amid fears of a repeat disaster after a massive new earthquake off Indonesia, government officials said.

From the eastern town of Trincomalee to the capital Colombo, police used loudhailers to advise residents to move inland.

"We received a call from Trincomalee ... We were told sirens are going, which means an evacuation is taking place," Eric Fernando, Director-General of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's Policy Research and Information Unit told Reuters.

"There are already two ministers at the President's house," Fernando added.

There was no answer from Sri Lanka's National Disaster Management Centre.

"We are using loudspeakers to evacuate people along the coastal belt. There are thousands of officers on the ground as of this moment," said Inspector General of Police Chandra Fernando.

"We are asking the people to head towards higher ground and the police are also on the lookout for dark elements who would love to take advantage of this situation and carry out robberies and break-ins," he added.

Around 40,000 people were killed along Sri Lanka's south, east and northern coasts by December's tsunami and more than 500,000 people are still displaced, living in tents or with relatives and friends.

News of an 8.7 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sumatra sparked fears of a repeat disaster and the government erred on the side of caution.

"The Pacific tsunami warning centre doesn't have any buoys in the Indian Ocean so it is difficult for them to predict a tsunami but the magnitude of the earthquake is so great, no-one wants to take a chance," said Lalith Chandrapala, Deputy Director of the National Meteorological Centre.

"If nothing happens in the next 30 minutes to one hour, we will withdraw the tsunami alert," he added.

Monday's scare came just two days after the Indian Ocean island nation held ceremonies along the southern coast to mark the three-month anniversary of the Dec. 26 tsunami.

The remote Maldives island chain, 800 km (500 miles) off the toe of India - which were swamped by the December tsunami but escaped the kind of damage and death tolls seen in Indonesia and Sri Lanka - advised residents to stay alert and glued to the television and radio.

"We've issued cautionary notices, asking people to get away from coastal areas and get to sturdy and tall buildings in case of a tsunami developing," chief government spokesman Ahmed Shaheed said.